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Awkward Kiss

When the Big Damn Kiss...well, isn't.

Name Space:Main

Page Type:Trope

Exactly What It Says on the Tin, this is what happens when a kiss ends up being incredibly awkward, rather than passionate or romantic or, well, anything it should be. Perhaps the participants are Better as Friends and realize it just a few seconds too late. Or they're failing at a Fake-Out Make-Out because it's just too weird. Regardless, for one reason or another, it just doesn't work and tends to result in awkward reactions on the part of the characters, the audience, or (most often) both.
Likely to result in a moment of Let Us Never Speak of This Again.
Compare Almost Kiss.

Examples

Anime & Manga

The kiss between Shinji and Asuka in Neon Genesis Evangelion was very awkward, thanks to Asuka pinching Shinji's nose shut because his breath tickled while she was kissing her, leaving him unable to breathe.

"....Then she moved in to kiss him and as he saw her puckering up and moving forward, he smiled and she accidentally kissed him on the teeth!"

Film

In 27 Dresses, Jane spends most of the movie with a crush on her boss. But when they finally do kiss...nope, no fireworks.

In Mean Girls Janis and Damien have what would be an epic movie ending kiss in any other movie... Except here Damien is gay and Janis is a straight girl everyone thinks is a lesbian. The kiss ends up being a peck and the conscious from the two is "Ew. No."

In The Princess Diaries Mia wants her first kiss to be an epic moment where her foot pops up like in old movies. Unfortunately, her foot gets stuck in fishing net on the floor of the shack they were hiding in, and she was with a Romantic False Lead. She gets her epic kiss once she realizes the right guy is her old friend.

The sequel has one as well, when Mia and Andrew try to kiss to see if they have any romantic chemistry at all. Cue extremely uncomfortable liplock and the realization that they are definitely Better as Friends.

In the first Back to the Future movie, Marty's teenage mother pounces on him and kisses him passionately. She pulls back almost immediately, commenting that it was "like kissing my brother."

In The Proposal, Andrew and Margaret have one of these when his family insists on seeing a kiss. It quickly moves out of the "awkward" territory, to both parties' consternation.

Literature

Clary of The Mortal Instruments has one of these with Sebastian, saying it felt just "wrong". Turns out that's because he's her real. demonic brother.

Humorously, this seems to be the default mode for Harry Potter's Lavender and Ron, due to a comic combination of hormones, overeagerness, and a lack of genuine chemistry.

Live-Action TV

Firefly comes close to one of these in "War Stories", when Platonic Life Partners Mal and Zoe are about to kiss after Wash's repeated jealousy. Wash interrupts, the point being made.

Wesley and Cordelia on Buffy the Vampire Slayer kiss after some time spent with UST. It quickly becomes this, and both find new love interests when they cross over to Angel and remain Better as Friends- amusingly, enough so that they're able to joke about their disastrous kiss for years to come.

On The Big Bang Theory Sheldon and Amy's kissing experiment goes well enough considering Sheldon was involved, but Amy was drunk and ends up throwing up right after. Unlike most examples, the kiss wasn't indicative of the couple not being well matched, it was just really bad timing on Amy's part.

The titular heroine of Ugly Betty has a slightly sad one of these with Marc, who kisses her in an attempt to hide his sexuality from his homophobic mother.

In How I Met Your Mother, every Halloween Ted looks for a girl he met on Halloween 2001 who dressed as a "Slutty Pumpkin." In 2011, he finally meets her, and after ten years of buildup, the lack of chemistry is amazing.

The kiss between Eddie and Piper in House of Anubis sure is awkward, as Eddie thought Piper was her twin sister and his girlfriend, Patricia, and Piper had no clue who Eddie was. The kiss appeared to be rather strange for both of them, as Eddie expected Piper to insult him like Patricia does, and Piper didn't even know what was going on.

Borderline on CSI: NY. Mac and Christine are at a party with Christine's family and since everyone is talking about them, they decide to give them something to talk about. It's a bit romantic, but awkward too because it's so early in the relationship. Things do work out for them, though.

Christine: I didn't mean to do that...*Did* I mean to do that?

Web Original

After several seasons of denying Zaboo's advances on The Guild, Codex experiences an Unrequited Love Switcheroo. The two decide they are incompatible, but their guildies throw them in the bathroom to kiss just to make sure. It was "like cardboard." The two decide they are Better as Friends.

Zaboo: *several seconds after deciding to be just friends* Hey, remember that time we got thrown into the bathroom and we started making out and it was, like, hardcore? ...Too soon?

Western Animation

In the Regular Show episode "Bad Kiss", Mordecai and Margaret's first kiss is cut short due to Mordecai's bad breath.

In Twenty Seven Dresses, Jane spends most of the movie with a crush on her boss. But when they finally do kiss...nope, no fireworks.

In Mean Girls Janis and Damien have what would be an epic movie ending kiss in any other movie... Except here Damien is gay and Janis is a straight girl everyone thinks is a lesbian. The kiss ends up being a peck and the conscious from the two is "Ew. No."

In The Princess Diaries Mia wants her first kiss to be an epic moment where her foot pops up like in old movies. Unfortunately, her foot gets stuck in fishing net on the floor of the shack they were hiding in, and she was with a Romantic False Lead. She gets her epic kiss once she realizes the right guy is her old friend.

On The Big Bang Theory Sheldon and Amy's kissing experiment goes well enough considering Sheldon was involved, but Amy was drunk and ends up throwing up right after. Unlike most examples, the kiss wasn't indicative of the couple not being well matched, it was just really bad timing on Amy's part.

The titular heroine of Ugly Betty has a slightly sad one of these with Marc, who kisses her in an attempt to hide his sexuality from his homophobic mother.

In How I Met Your Mother, every Halloween Ted looks for a girl he met on Halloween 2001 who dressed as a "Slutty Pumpkin." In 2011, he finally meets her, and after ten years of buildup, the lack of chemistry is amazing.

The kiss between Eddie and Piper in House Of Anubis sure is awkward, as Eddie thought Piper was her twin sister and his girlfriend, Patricia, and Piper had no clue who Eddie was. The kiss appeared to be rather strange for both of them, as Eddie expected Piper to insult him like Patricia does, and Piper didn't even know what was going on.

Web Original:

After several seasons of denying Zaboo's advances on The Guild, Codex experiences an Unrequited Love Switcheroo. The two decide they are incompatible, but their guildies throw them in the bathroom to kiss just to make sure. It was "like cardboard." The two decide they are Better As Friends.

Zaboo: *several seconds after deciding to be just friends* Hey, remember that time we got thrown into the bathroom and we started making out and it was, like, hardcore? ...Too soon?

In Mean Girls Janis and Damien have what would be an epic movie ending kiss in any other movie... Except here Damien is gay and Janis is a straight girl everyone thinks is a lesbian. The kiss ends up being a peck and the conscious from the two is "Ew. No."

In The Princess Diaries Mia wants her first kiss to be an epic moment where her foot pops up like in old movies. Unfortunately, her foot gets stuck in fishing net on the floor of the shack they were hiding in, and she was with a Romantic False Lead. She gets her epic kiss once she realizes the right guy is her old friend.

On The Big Bang Theory Sheldon and Amy's kissing experiment goes well enough considering Sheldon was involved, but Amy was drunk and ends up throwing up right after. Unlike most examples, the kiss wasn't indicative of the couple not being well matched, it was just really bad timing on Amy's part.

The kiss between Eddie and Piper in House Of Anubis sure is awkward, as Eddie thought Piper was her twin sister and his girlfriend, Patricia, and Piper had no clue who Eddie was. The kiss appeared to be rather strange for both of them, as Eddie expected Piper to insult him like Patricia does, and Piper didn't even know what was going on.

After several seasons of denying Zaboo's advances on The Guild, Codex experiences an Unrequited Love Switcheroo. The two decide they are incompatible, but their guildies throw them in the bathroom to kiss just to make sure. It was "like cardboard." The two decide they are Better As Friends.

Zaboo: *several seconds after deciding to be just friends* Hey, remember that time we got thrown into the bathroom and we started making out and it was, like, hardcore? ...Too soon?

In How I Met Your Mother, every Halloween Ted looks for a girl he met on Halloween 2001 who dressed as a "Slutty Pumpkin." In 2011, he finally meets her, and after ten years of buildup, the lack of chemistry is amazing.

The kiss between Shinji and Asuka in Neon Genesis Evangelion was very awkward, thanks to Asuka pinching Shinji's nose shut because his breath tickled while she was kissing her, leaving him unable to breathe.

Borderline on CSI NY. Mac and Christine are at a party with Christine's family and since everyone is talking about them, they decide to give them something to talk about. It's a bit romantic, but awkward too because it's so early in the relationship. Things do work out for them, though.

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